Camora
Camora is the name of the city in which As Above takes place. It is divided into six towers with somewhat distinct cultures. Though all the towers are of equal size, the population is not divided between them equally, and so there is much more space near the top than at the bottom. It is worth noting that once a family moves up or down to a new tower, they are usually treated as simply other members of that tower within the first month of their arrival. Sudden promotions or demotions cause surprisingly little hostility in those around them. Travel between towers is possible but is not encouraged, and so is only done with need. There is an extensive public transportation system that allows for mobility both within and between towers to assist in public mobility. The Six Towers The Towers of Camora are broken down as follows: Low towers: Red Tower Orange Tower Middle towers: Yellow Tower Green Tower High towers: Blue Tower Violet Tower The Yellow Tower is often lumped in with the low towers, and the Green with the high, but these are the rough distinctions. Silver and Grey Towers In addition to the six towers of Camora, there are two very important features that are often called towers without truly having their own. Ironically, they form the brackets for the social structure of the other six, with the Silver Tower serving as the home of the monarch and the Grey Towers as the homes of the drogher, in the bottoms of all the towers. Architecture Camoran architecture varies slightly between towers, but is overarchingly built around archways and long halls, all carved from the stone of the tower. Wood is perishingly rare, and found only amoung the wealthiest Camorans. Stone, on the other hand, is a staple, and even coloured marble is considered cheap by comparison. As such, tiled decorations (usually in geometric or abstract patterns) are very common even in poorer neighborhoods. Each tower has a central column, far larger than any other, with spiraling staircases carved into it. Aside from the central column, there are many smaller columns in houses and halls. These are decorative as often as practical, and functional colums adorn nearly every street to help support the great towers. Windows dot the outer walls of the towers and are made of thick lacquer, but this is more to create boundaries for each tower than to let in the non-existant light. That said, stained glass windows lit by skyshards are very popular, and come in varying degrees of complexity. They are most often seen in the streetward side of houses and temples, but more personal works are also comissioned. Due to the nearly endless supply of water from the Fall, fountains, public baths, and potable water abound throughout the towers and are common features in every neighborhood, if not every house. The plentiful supply of water also means that many forms of plant life are able to grow, and various public and private gardens dot the towers. Almost every family grows some edible plants, be it in a private back yard, a neighborhood garden, or even a windowsill. Between the vegetable gardens and parks, Camora is surprisingly green for a city built of stone. Climate Camora is in t he middle of a cold desert similar to the Gobi in southern Mongolia. Plant and animal life is scarce, and frigid winds whip what litle snow there is through the black air at uncomfortable speeds. The desert has not been mapped, as there is no reason to leave Camora in favour of the wilderness. Camora is the only civilization in this world, and the animals that roam the desert dunes are unkind to strangers. This desert is especially cold (mean temperature -15 °F) due to the Aegis, a protective covering that blots out all light from the sky. As such, the local animals have learned to live in a frigid, dark environment. The people of Camora fare slightly better by using skyshards, but are very well acclimated to their sunless home as well. All the water in the city comes from a single, enormous waterfall tumbling from a permanent portal out of a seemingly endless lake in Talamra. The water falls over the Silver Tower and then, eventually, down to the ground, where it waters the animals and farms run by the drogher. It is siphoned into the six towers using a combination of simple pipes and Crescent Mage artifice, and runs from the top down.